Share this

I applauded and applaud President Obama's courageous and principled stand in favor of religious freedom. As someone who spends a lot of time engaging with people all over the world in discussions of American foreign policy, I know very well how important it is that we take a consistent stand in favor of the freedoms of Americans to practice the faith of their choice. And as someone who has frequently met persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in countries where these freedoms aren't respected, I know the power of our example to bring hope to the tens of millions of people suffering persecution and discrimination for their faith.

But I fear that the president's advocacy of religious freedom is being undermined by his failure so far to articulate the nature of the enemy Americans are fighting in so many countries around the world - and which continues to try to attack us here at home. People who are fearful and lack confidence in their leadership have a hard time standing on principle.

The debate over Ground Zero is more than a debate about freedom of religion. It is a national conversation about the meaning of what we used to call the war on terror. We don't have a name for the conflict anymore, but we are still fighting it.

This is an untenable position. The president needs to name the war, name the enemy, and help Americans to understand how his policy of reaching out to Muslims is part of a serious strategy to defeat the bad guys.

The lack of public confidence in the president's position on the mosque reflects a much deeper problem that the White House needs to address.

More POLITICO Arena

About the Arena

The Arena is a cross-party, cross-discipline forum for intelligent and lively conversation about political and policy issues. Contributors have been selected by POLITICO staff and editors. David Mark, Arena's moderator, is a Senior Editor at POLITICO. Each morning, POLITICO sends a question based on that day's news to all contributors.